Korean Peace Day!

I attended the Korean Peace Day event on 12/3/09.

Upon arrival to this event, I was immediately met with Korean food! One big thing about culture is the food that is eaten. In order to emmerce myself in Korean culture, I tried the food items that were provided. I ate Korean pork dumplines, Kim-bap (Korean-style sushi), and Jun (which, to me, seemed like a fritatta of some sort but crispy and cut into small strips). The food was delicious and prepared me to learn more about Korean culture and current events that are happening in Korea.

This panel/presentation allowed me to see not only the struggle between North Korea and America but also to see the tension between North Korea and South Korea. First, an NYU professor spoke about some important things happening in North Korea in the present. First, he talked about the perception gap between the US and North Korea. He talked about a "rocket" that North Korea fired into space right before President Obama's arrival in Prague. What North Korea called a "rocket" which initiated a satellite, President Obama (America) called a "nuclear weapon". Both countries perceived the item that was launched into space differently, which brought upon more fighting and anamosity between the US and North Korea. North Korea believes that science and technology is the "engine that will propell North Korea as a powerful country and improve its economy". For this reason, they launched the rocket/satellite into space to use as observations for a scientific development. They believed that denouncing the launch would have meant opposing an economic goal and the goal to become a prosperous country. Because the US considered this a "nuclear weapon," Obama spoke about the need for a world without nuclear weapons. This statement was directed to the launch from North Korea as it may have been a "nuclear missile". The professor also spoke about the consequences of the fact that North Korea has been the US's longest lasting enemy thus far. This animosity towards North Korea enables the US government to have an everlasting mistrust in North Korea. Finally, the professor talked about the importance of political leadership and a need for community activism to bring peace to the two nations.

Next, a Korean War veteran spoke about what is being done to support the desire for peace between the US and North Korea. He spoke abot the National Campaign to End the Korean War, an organization that promotes peace between the two nations. He also belongs to a program called Veterans for Peace. One of the main projects of VEP has been the reunification of families over the years (Korean-Americans and their families in Korea, adopted children with their biological families, etc.). He talked about the importance for veterans to work together (both Korean and American veterans) in the interest of peace; they do not discuss what happened but rather talk about what they can do to end the hatred between the two nations.

Finally, a panel of 3 individuals (Korean-Americans) who visited North Korea through the DEEP program. The panel answered a few questions posed by one of the trip leaders in order to provide us with the experiences of these travlers before, during, and after their trip. Before going on the trip, the travelers had fears and doubts about traveling to North Korea. They were worried about the stereotypical perceptions of the North Korean people and government. One of the panelists even said that she did not plan to tell her parents that she was going on this trip because she knew they would not support the decision. Her parents tried to stage an "intervention" and told her all of the reasons she should not travel to North Korea, especially due to recent events that had occurred in North Korea. She had thoughts of backing out of the trip, but decided she wanted to experience the culture and experience the lifestyle of North Korea in order to strengthen the ties between North Korean citizens and Americans. First impressions of North Korea made the travlers a little skeptical at first. One of the travlers remembered how the flight attendant was very cold towards them, not like the bubbly and helpful flight attendants we are used to. Once they were in North Korea, the travlers realized that not all North Koreans act in the way the media portrays North Korea as a country. Many people were friendly and helpful towards them, even after knowing they lived in America (and their families were from South Korea).

It was really interesting to hear about their experiences in North Korea. First, it was great to see how their anxiety/feelings about North Korea changed over the time of the trip. They started out apprehensive and then realized they had nothing to fear about the people of North Korea. I was aware of the problems between North Korea and America, but it was really interesting how much the Korean American families from South Korea reacted to the thought of their child going to North Korea. This really showed me the dynamics of the conflict within the country of Korea.

At the end of the session, we learned about some ways we can help to bring peace among North Korea and America and what we can do to end the hatred.
1. Go to endthekoreanwar.com and sign the petition for the peace treaty. The petition serves as a way to bridge the gap between North Korea and America and hopes to finally solve the anamosity between the two nations.
2. Sign up for the list serve to receive more information about the social change happening with regards to North Korean/American peace. [http://nodutdol.org/]
3. Attend the national gathering in Washington DC in June of 2010 for the 60th Anniversary of the Korean War.
4. Apply for the Spring internship. [http://nodutdol.org/]
5. Join the New York chapter of the National Campain to End the Korean War.